Vivo Resorts In The News

Photos: Ernesto J. Torres, Casa 12

In November, there was national news coverage of the million-peso fine
levied by Profepa, (the prosecutorial arm of the federal environmental
agency, Semarnat) against Éxito Resorts, S.A. de C.V. for the
construction of Vivo Resorts, a condominium/hotel complex on the
Chila coast, a few kilometers northwest of Puerto Escondido. This was
followed by reports of a claim by some comuneros that they and not
Éxito Resorts have the rights to the land. The following article is a summary
of those published reports plus interviews with the Comisariado
de Bienes Comunales of San Pedro Mixtepec and an official of the Municipality
of San Pedro Mixtapec, as well as e-mails from the lawyer
representing Éxito Resorts and the lawyer representing the comuneros.

I believe that how these problems are resolved will affect not only
Vivo Resorts but also the future development of the Chila coast.

Barbara Joan Schaffer

Vivo Resorts, beachPhoto: Ernesto J. Torres, Casa 12

“We thought Canadians were smarter,”
commented Saúl Cerón, the president of the Bienes
Comunales (Communal Land) of San Pedro Mixtepec,
shaking his head in disbelief, referring to Calgary native Cary
Mullen. According to Cerón, Mullen, the developer of Vivo Resorts,
has never gotten approval from the Assembly of Comuneros to
rezone the land from agricultural to residential use. The zoning issue
is at the core of Profepa’s suit against the project. Profepa also
claims that the project was never approved by Semarnat and that
it should be restored to its former condition.

Vivo Resorts, poolPhoto: Ernesto J. Torres, Casa 12

Vivo Resorts was temporarily closed by Profepa, but construction
of the four-story towers now continues while the fine is being
contested in the courts. Even so, it appears that the lots that were
sold by Éxito Resorts for the construction of private homes are still
subject to a Profepa closing as we observed a “clausurado” sign in
September on a house under construction in the community.

Éxito Resorts’ legal representative, Eric Alberto Heras, has informed
us that the development was rezoned by a vote of the
Assembly of the Bienes Comunales, but he was unable to provide
information as to when the vote took place. In an article in Tiempo
en Linea, he took strong exception to what he called a leak by
Profepa, to the same news organization, while the fine is being
contested in the courts.

Meanwhile, a group of comuneros (a comunero is a person
who possesses communal land) has a registered a complaint with
the Agrarian Court in Oaxaca claiming that the 32 hectares now
in the possession of Éxito Reorts was unlawfully taken from them.
According to their lawyer, Rogelio Nuñez Ramírez, the property
was in the possession of a collective of comuneros when it was
wrongfully transferred to Eleuterio Ríos Luna, who in turn transferred
it to Marco Antonio Bruciaga Fragosa, who later transferred
it to Éxito Resorts.

Nuñez Ramírez held a press conference in Oaxaca in November
in order to draw attention to his clients’ claim and to pressure
the Agrarian Court to deal swiftly in this matter.

Bienes Comunales of San Pedro Mixtepec.Photo: Barbara Schaffer

Even though Éxito Resorts holds the acta de posesión for the
Vivo property, it does not give actas de posesión to people who
buy land from them to build houses; instead the buyers receive
escrituras públicas issued by the District of Juquila. (In condo
communities in Santa María Colotepec like Cumaná and Rancho
Neptuno, the property owners have both escrituras públicas and
actas de posesión.)

All the land in San Pedro Mixtepec, outside of the area of
Puerto Escondido that was privatized through a presidential decree
in 1970, belongs to
the Bienes Comunales
of San Pedro Mixtepec.
However, the administration
of the land, both
private and communal,
is the responsibility of
Municipio of San Pedro.*
The municipio issues
building permits, and it
is the policy of the municipio
to grant permits to
anyone having either an
acta de posesión or an
escritura pública, regardless
of whether or not the
escritura is for communal
land.

*The three levels of
government in Mexico are
Federal, State and Municipal.
The Bienes Comunales
is a completely separate
entity from the Municipio.